Portable auditory electronic devices, including, for example, laptops, tablet devices, mobile phones, smart phones, portable media players, portable gaming consoles, and so forth have become ubiquitous in today's world and are used extensively by users in their daily life. Typically, the portable auditory electronic devices are paired with headphones for convenience, privacy, and clarity. With increasing data connectivity and storage volume, and consequently easy access to various media, users use headphones along with their portable auditory electronic devices almost everywhere. However, headphones may adversely affect the safety of the users, particularly when they are used in open, because of a lack of awareness the users may have with their environment. For example, the users may be generally unaware of the sounds in the surroundings, miss the attention of vehicles or other hazardous situations, and end up in accidents.
The advent of noise cancelling headphones have further accentuated the problem. In some cases, noise cancelling headphones are so effective that anything apart from the sound coming from the connected devices are suppressed, and a person may not be able to hear oncoming traffic or pay attention to people around them. There is also a general danger that audio (e.g., music) in headphones may distract the user and lead to dangerous situations.